1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to intermediate electrical connector for interconnecting two connectors or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 5,653,598 discloses an intermediate electrical connector of this type. The electrical connector comprises an insulating housing having a slot and a contact element provided in the slot. The contact element is made by stamping a metal sheet and formed in the V-shape such that the two free ends project from the upper and lower openings of the slot to form contact portions.
Mating connectors are provided on opposite faces of the housing and are pressed against the contact portions for electrical connection. The contact portions are offset slightly in the thicknesswise direction and, in use, brought into resilient contact with each other to form a shortcircuit.
However, the shortcircuit has a small sectional area so that the electrical resistance is large and, when the opposite ends are abutted to each other, the contact element becomes so rigid that it must be pressed against the connection portion with a large force and has a small amount of resilient deflection.
Contact arms are provided at the free ends and are brought into contact with each other. Since the shortcircuit is made by the contact arms, the sectional area of the shortcircuit is small, thereby providing a high electrical resistance.
After the two contact portions are contacted, the contact area shifts into the slot interior so that the difference in the thicknesswise direction is large. Consequently, the contact pressure becomes high, thereby increasing the rigidity. Usually, the connector has a large number of contact elements which are pressed simultaneously so that it must be pressed against the connection portion with a very large force.
Since the upper and lower springs are provided in a plane, there is provided a limited space to form a soft spring. Consequently, in order to provide an optimal pressure, the amount of resilient displacement must be small with a certain spring constant, resulting in the low contact reliability. That is, the amount of resilient displacement is so small and so different among the contact elements that the flexure or unevenness of mating connectors cannot be absorbed, resulting in the unstable contact and self inductance.